A mini version of NYC’s Hippo Ballerina sculpture is now in Turtle Bay
Photos courtesy of Cavalier Galleries
A smaller version of New York City’s Hippo Ballerina sculpture debuted this week in Turtle Bay. Created by Danish artist Bjørn Okholm Skaarup, Hippo Ballerina is a 15-foot-tall sculpture that has been seen over the years in front of Grand Central Terminal, the Flatiron Building, and Lincoln Center. The new mini sculpture, along with Hippo Ballerina, pirouette and Rhino Harlequin, pirouette, can now be found in front of the skyscraper at 885 Second Avenue in Midtown through March 2024.
Hippo Ballerina has been installed alongside Hippo Ballerina, pirouette, and Rhino Harlequin, pirouette, the latter of which was also located in Pershing Square Plaza West.
In designing the sculptures, Skaruup was inspired by French artist Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen and Walt Disney’s dancing hippos in Fantasia.
As a press release describes, the series of sculptures highlight Skaruup’s ability to conceptualize the subjects and themes of ancient myths, art history, modern animation, and contemporary pop culture in the form of visual art.
“My animal sculptures are a celebration of life and nature and its many intriguing shapes and creatures,” Skaarup said in a statement last year. “Each animal is thoroughly culturalized; representing human allegories or use manmade tools, all placed in peculiar and surreal encounters between nature and culture.”
“The result is a group of bronze sculptures that combines the gracious and exclusive with the communicative, distorted, and humorous.”
“Hippo Ballerina, pirouette” by Bjørn Okholm Skaarup. Image courtesy of Cavalier Galleries
The full-sized Hippo Ballerina sculpture was installed in Pershing Square Plaza West in May 2022 after finishing its residences in different parts of the city, including Dante Park by Lincoln Center, the Flatiron South Public Plaza, and the Girl Scouts of America Building, according to TimeOut.
Those who want to see more of Skaarup’s works can take a closer look at smaller editions of his sculptures at Cavalier Galleries, located at 530 West 24th Street.
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